Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [176]

"If that's the case, it seems my Primaris technology will become obsolete!" Belisarius Cawl exclaimed.

Is this a mistake? Space Marines can defeat the Custodes?

What a joke, these two aren't even in the same league, are they?

Unless the cost of producing these super Space Marines approaches that of the Custodes, this kind of thing is impossible.

Seeing Belisarius Cawl's reaction, Rhodes knew he didn't believe it.

The super Space Marines' physique did look similar to the Primaris Marines, but their combat ability was suddenly so much higher.

It was indeed a bit hard for Belisarius Cawl to accept, after all this was the result of his 10,000 years of hard work.

Moreover, his Primarch, the truly complete Primaris Space Marine, was stronger than the Custodes, but couldn't be replicated.

"Lord Cawl can personally experience the power of these super Space Marines. They are truly formidable," Rhodes smiled and led Belisarius Cawl to a training ground.

Then he arranged for all the super Space Marines to pair up in groups of two and begin a large-scale sparring session.

The super Space Marines demonstrated unparalleled speed, terrifying strength, and incredibly powerful equipment.

Belisarius Cawl could see that all this equipment was improved versions of the Terminator series, superior in every aspect from speed to defense.

And the materials used were a special type he had never seen before.

Belisarius Cawl's bionic eyes flickered constantly, analyzing the strength, speed and reflexes of these super Space Marines.

The result revealed a terrifying fact - these guys were all on par with the Custodes, matching his Primarch.

Perfect!

That was Belisarius Cawl's conclusion after watching this sparring match.

These super Space Marines were even stronger than the Primaris Marines he had created.

"What a flawless warrior! What kind of surgical modifications did you perform on them?" Belisarius Cawl turned to Rhodes and asked.

"There are 3 major enhancements. First is a type of biochemical muscle, extracted from a terrifying artificial weapon called Zetton. It makes these warriors' muscles 100 times harder than steel.

Then there's skeletal enhancement, using a very special drug to increase their bone density to 100 times that of a normal human.

Finally, a core is installed in their brains to further enhance their psychic defenses and grant them the ability to control a transformation."

This transformation is Gomora's berserk form, but it requires implanting one's gene-seed to activate.

The special brain core was added to the modifications for two reasons: one is to better control these super Space Marines, and the other is to control the berserk transformation.

"100 times harder than steel? No wonder their physical strength is so immense! Comparable to custom-modified Custodes.

The bone density enhancement was originally part of the procedure too, but not to this extent.

As for the final brain core enhancement, it has similarities to my Sangprimus Portum."

Like his Primaris Space Marines, three surgical modifications were added, but these three were much more impressive than his own.

His sinew coils could greatly increase muscle strength, but not to 100 times that of steel.

This special biochemical muscle could perfectly replace the sinew coils.

Perhaps his Belisarius furnace could be incorporated into these super Space Marines to further enhance their combat ability.

As for the Sangprimus Portum, this was brain technology extracted when the Emperor created the Primarchs. It could work in conjunction with their brain core to better resist Warp corruption and prevent Space Marines from falling to Chaos.

This way, the surgeries for super Space Marines and Primaris Marines could be combined, increasing the original 19 procedures to 24.

Elevating them to a level even more terrifying than the Custodes. The only procedure that would need to be discarded here is the sinew coils.

"That's not all! If it were just these three surgical changes, they wouldn't be this powerful.

I've improved all 19 other enhancement procedures, making their superhuman organs even more potent.

At the same time, the 19th implant, the Black Carapace, has been replaced. Using the carapace of that Zetton creature to further boost their defenses," Balt walked over and said.

Zett also came over and gave Belisarius Cawl a detailed explanation of the principles behind the super Space Marine enhancement surgeries.

"These two are scientists under my command, from the Golden Age. They led the work on modifying the super Space Marines," Rhodes introduced Balt and Zett to Belisarius Cawl.

The three scientists exchanged friendly greetings and then began discussing academic matters.

Belisarius Cawl was very interested in this super Space Marine technology.

"I think this super Space Marine enhancement technology could be merged with my Primaris technology.

The sinew coils device can be removed, but my Belisarius furnace and Sangprimus Portum could integrate perfectly with your super soldiers.

The Belisarius furnace can greatly enhance the Space Marines' combat ability, while the Sangprimus Portum can work in tandem with the special brain core."

"Your idea is good. We can indeed make some improvements to further increase the capabilities of these super Space Marines," Balt nodded after hearing Belisarius Cawl's proposal.

This could boost the combat power of these troops even more, and the Belisarius furnace could work with the special brain core to better control the berserk transformation.

"What's the success rate of your enhancement procedures?

I see that this batch of super Space Marines seems to all be veterans. Is this technology highly successful when enhancing veterans?" Belisarius Cawl asked.

His Primaris procedure was very unfriendly to veterans, with a death rate as high as 70%.

For new recruits the success rate was over 90%, and only recently after some modifications did the veteran death rate drop to just over 60%, which was still terribly high.

"Success rate? Isn't your technology 100% successful?" Balt asked in surprise.

After exchanging ideas with this Belisarius Cawl, he realized the other was also a genius-level scientist.

Could it be that the enhancements he developed couldn't ensure a 100% successful transformation?

"Uh! Your technology has a 100% success rate for enhancing veterans?" Belisarius Cawl was speechless.

"That's right! All of our super Space Marines are enhanced veterans. We remove all the enhancement organs, regrow them, and then implant new enhancement organs to complete the modification.

As for enhancing recruits, it should also reach a 100% success rate."

The super Space Marine technology would have a high success rate for recruits too, but enhancing veterans is more cost-effective.

After surgery, enhanced veterans can immediately form combat strength, while recruits still need time to train and adapt to their bodies.

"This... how is this possible? I've seen that biochemical muscle requires removing all the muscles in the body. The death rate for that is terrifyingly high!

I can understand a 100% success rate for recruits, but how can veterans possibly withstand this kind of enhancement?"

"That's because we use a special medical capsule. As long as a person hasn't died when placed inside, it can sustain their life. So our enhancement technology can maintain a 100% success rate."

Without this medical capsule, the difficulty of the surgery would increase slightly.

"May I see this facility? Is this also Golden Age technology?" Belisarius Cawl asked.

"Of course. This is indeed from the Golden Age, and I have many of them," Rhodes said.

When it was still a small mothership, he had over 100 medical capsules. After upgrading to a medium mothership, 300 more were added.

Adding in the medical capsules from some small ships and those left over from the previous small mothership, Rhodes' total number of medical capsules had reached 500.

Moreover, if needed, the medium mothership could produce new medical capsules. The technology of these capsules was extremely advanced.

With current human technology, it would be almost impossible to replicate them. Rhodes could completely monopolize this.

Balt and Zett took Belisarius Cawl to see the wonders of these medical capsules.

They chose a super Space Marine volunteer, blasted off one of his arms, opened a hole in his stomach, and then had him lie in a medical capsule for treatment.

"Using this equipment, the success rate for upgrading veteran Primaris Marines would also reach 100%.

Lord Rhodes, I hope we can begin the fusion surgery immediately. I've created a Primarch, publicly claimed as my personal bodyguard, but my first Primaris Space Marine. He's even more powerful than regular Primaris Marines.

I can bring him here for your super Space Marine enhancements, and I can also add two Primaris organs to your subordinates."

"No need to rush. I need you to do something else now. The gene-seed in these super Space Marines, I want to replace it with gene-seed that belongs to me," Rhodes said.

"Extract your gene-seed?" Belisarius Cawl looked at Rhodes in surprise.